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Trader's guide

This section answers the questions that usually come up before your first deposit: how forex trading works, what to expect, how your money is handled, and what protection you have.

Sections

01How brokers make money and how trading works6 questions 02What to expect in practice4 questions 03If something goes wrong: protection and broker verification5 questions 04Money: tax and reporting2 questions

How brokers make money and how trading works

Spread, commission, swap · A-book/B-book · execution · leverage

How does a forex broker make money?
A-book and B-book: does the broker route or internalise your trade?
Where quotes come from, and how to tell a real market from a bucket shop with fake spikes?
Execution: market vs instant, requotes, slippage, gaps
Leverage, margin, margin call, stop out: how it works
The overnight swap: why holding a position long term can be costly

What to expect in practice

Loss statistics · demo vs live · starting capital

How many retail traders really lose money?
Demo vs live: why demo results don't carry over
Minimum deposit vs real starting capital
Deposit bonus: what the fine print changes

If something goes wrong: protection and broker verification

Legality · protection in a dispute · Tier 1/2/3 · how to check

Is forex trading legal in South Africa, and how it is regulated
What an FSCA licence gives you and how to check it
How to check a broker is really authorised and not an impersonator
What protection do you have in a dispute with a broker?
Negative balance protection and what protects client funds

Money: tax and reporting

Income tax · rates · provisional tax · CRS reporting

Forex trading tax in South Africa: how SARS taxes your profit
Does SARS know about your forex account? Automatic exchange and what to declare